Stabler, Donald B.

Donald Stabler was a member of the Lehigh University Class of '30 and majored in civil engineering. As a student, Stabler was involved in wrestling, the student branch of the ASCE, Pi Delta Epsilon (an honorary fraternity), the Freshman Handbook, the Lehigh Review, and the Senior Cabinet. He earned a master's degree in 1932 and in 1974 Lehigh awarded him an honorary doctorate (L.L.D.), as did Dickinson School of Law in 1981. In 1995, Susquehanna University awarded the Stablers honorary doctorates (LH.D.).

Donald Stabler was chairman of the Board of Stabler Companies Inc., a Harrisburg-based holding company of eleven subsidiary companies related to highway construction; quarrying of stone, sand, and gravel; bituminous and Portland cement concrete manufacturing; the manufacturing, sales, and servicing of highway safety equipment; real estate development; and the manufacture of solar equipment.

Stabler, former president of the Lehigh Alumni Association, also served as a corporate member on the university's Board of Trustees and was past chairman of the Development Committee. The Athletic and Convocation Center bears his name and the Dorothy L. Stabler Tower Room, located in Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop Campus, is named in honor of his wife. They also established the Donald B and Dorothy L Stabler Scholarship.

When Don Stabler passed away in 1997, Dorothy Stabler accepted the position of Vice President and Director of Stabler Companies and subsidiaries. Mrs. Stabler served on the Board of Trustees of Messiah College, Woods Services, the Harrisburg Area Community College Foundation, and on the National Board of Women in Medicine. She was also a trustee of the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation. She also was a member of the Board of Governors of the Surf Club in Miami Beach and served on the Committee of 100 in Miami, Florida. Stabler himself was a member of Lehigh's Board of Trustees, servng as a corporate member and as a chairman of the Development Committee. He served for two years a president of the alumni association and was eventually was honored with the New York Alumni Club's "24 Mr. Stabler passed away in 1997, and Mrs. Stabler passed away in 2005 leaving behind a bequest to Lehigh for $34.2 million in the spring of 2008. Their most recent gift will give even more students the opportunity to come to Lehigh through the Stabler scholarship.

Stabler Companies Inc. was sold to the New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc. in January 2008.